Angela GJul 23, 2024
When Republicans and the WSJ call out your #greed
The pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs, have devised formularies of preferred medicines that encouraged use of higher-priced drugs over lower-priced alternatives, the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability found. They promised to control costs, but have instead steered patients toward higher-priced medicines and affiliated pharmacies. #healthcare #HealthcareReform #HCR4US #OnePayerStates
https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/drug-middlemen-push-patients-to-pricier-medicines-house-probe-finds-80c20fda
Angela GJul 3, 2024

Even the #WSJ admits it: Mail order delivery of prescriptions was supposed to lower consumer prices, but drugs delivered by mail are costing multiples more than those picked up at a store counter.

The US doesn't have #healthcare, we have a health industry.
#Greed #PBM #HealthcareIsAHumanRight #HealthcareReform #HCR4US #OnePayerStates

https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/higher-drug-costs-mail-order-prescription-bf37886f

Mail-Order Drugs Were Supposed to Keep Costs Down. It’s Doing the Opposite.

One employer was paying about $100 for a prescription for a generic antidepressant, though it could be bought elsewhere for about $12

WSJ
Angela GJun 18, 2024
Williams was hospitalized for a blood infection for three months more than ten years ago during an employment gap when he didn't have health insurance. When the bill went to collections, the debt was $50,000. “They don’t give you a choice in the hospital. ‘If you leave, you’ll die,’ they told me. I didn’t feel like dying,” he said. “I don’t think anyone should have to go into financial ruin to live.”
#HealthcareIsAHumanRight #Healthcare #HCR4US #SinglePayer
https://apnews.com/article/medical-debt-forgiveness-majorities-favor-poll-cc46b73d93dbf883ce9f9f2e07bbfcaf
Majority of Americans favor medical debt forgiveness: AP-NORC poll

Majorities of Americans favor forgiving all or some of an individual’s medical debt if the person is facing hardships. That's according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey found that about half of Americans say it’s extremely or very important for the U.S. government to provide debt relief for those who have yet to pay off medical treatments. Although reducing student loan debt has been a focus for President Joe Biden, the poll found that Americans are more likely to say medical debt relief should be a government priority.

AP News
Angela GMay 10, 2024

Parents with private health coverage in the US now face on average more than $3,000 in medical bills related to a pregnancy and childbirth that aren’t covered by insurance.

Yes, $3,000 to have a baby. And the debt collectors are not kind when they call.

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/babies-come-with-medical-debt/

#Healthcare #HealthcareIsAHumanRight #MothersDay
#HCR4US #HealthcareReform

Their First Baby Came With Medical Debt. These Illinois Parents Won’t Have Another. - KFF Health News

Millions of new parents in the U.S. are swamped by medical debt during and after pregnancy, forcing many to cut back on food, clothing, and other essentials.

KFF Health News
Angela GMay 2, 2024

A reminder that the US doesn't have #Healthcare, we have a corporate health industry.

From CNBC: UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty told lawmakers that data from 1/3 of Americans could have been compromised in the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, and that the company paid a $22 million ransom to hackers.

Witty became the highest-paid CEO among the major health insurers last year, with $23.5 million in compensation.

#HCR4US #HealthcareReform #Greed
#HealthcareIsAHumanRight

Angela GApr 10, 2024

Please boost so anyone in the US with #MedicareAdvantage or any #UnitedHealthcare plans, including #Optum and #NaviHealth can read this article on the algorithms they use to deny your care and what it takes to fight back. #HCR4US #HealthcareIsAHumanRight

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast/attack-of-the-medicare-machines/

Attack of the Medicare Machines - KFF Health News

In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care.

KFF Health News
Angela GMar 20, 2024
For the last decade, workers at two hospitals in Rhode Island have been trying to care for thousands of patients while answering to an out-of-state, private-equity firm owner with a history of failing to pay the bills. Now, they’re figuring out whether being purchased by a private foundation will make matters better, or worse. Hospitals owned by private-equity firms are struggling nationwide as the companies prioritize profits over patients. #HealthcareIsAHumanRight #HCR4US #Greed #Healthcare
Angela GFeb 27, 2024
Business, not health, is the core of US Health Insurance:
Some of the largest publicly traded health insurers - United Healthcare, Elevance, Centene -- raked in the largest investment gains in at least a decade last year, according to a Modern Healthcare analysis of financial filings. These windfalls helped boost finances for insurers contending with headwinds such as higher-than-expected Medicare Advantage spending.
#Healthcare should not include corporate profit. #HCR4US #OnePayerStates
Angela GFeb 15, 2024

@StillIRise1963 @birdpoof @Pineywoozle

All of this is exactly why I became a healthcare advocate and activist. My 89-year-old mother-in-law lives with us. I’m at a medical facility with her at least once every three weeks. It has been quite an education. I will spend the rest of my living days trying to reform this horrific, for-profit healthcare system that we live under. #HealthcareIsAHumanRight #HCR4US #OnePayerStates #HealthcareReform

Angela GFeb 8, 2024

CVS Health (Aetna) and Centene execs say #MedicareAdvantage rates for 2025 aren't "sufficient" and hinted they could cut benefits if the federal government finalizes the rates as is. The specter of potential cuts to seniors' health care benefits in an election year could put pressure on the Biden administration.

No, it should put pressure on the companies that holds #healthcare and #seniors hostage to their #greed.

#HealthcareReform #HCR4US #OnePayerStates

https://www.axios.com/2024/02/08/medicare-advantage-cvs-centene-biden

Health insurers balk at proposed Medicare Advantage rates

The health plans say they're facing greater pressure as people are using more health care.

Axios